The KWL Method Will Help You Remember What You Study

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One method for faster, more interesting study sessions is popular in elementary schools, which is why you may not have heard of it, though it’s applicable to all ages: the KWL chart. The chart is easy enough for a fourth-grader to construct, but helps make even graduate-level study sessions more fruitful by making them more engaging and easy to follow along with. All you need is a notebook and a pen on hand the next time you're reading, watching, or listening to new material. (For $10, you can even get a notebook full of pre-made KWL charts so you don't have to do the work of drawing them yourself.)

What is a KWL chart?

KWL stands for Know, Want to Know, and Learn. Its use is popular among teachers of younger kids, but it’s recommended by universities, too. KWL charts are part of the constructivist teaching method, which is based on the constructivist theory, or belief that people learn more when they’re actively engaged in the meaningful process of constructing knowledge rather than just passively receiving information. Put more simply, constructivists believe that you learn more when you interact with your material as opposed to just reading or hearing it. A smattering of research in the wide world of academia has also suggested that KWL charts are more effective for reading comprehension than conventional, passive techniques.

To better understand constructivist learning, think of all the other kinds of activities you did in elementary school. Activities like building a model volcano or playing Jeopardy! with big cards taped to the whiteboard are constructivist. You probably even remember some of the content you learned during those games or activities, even though they were years ago and you struggle to remember more boring passages you read just last week. There's a reason for that: Being engaged with a concept truly does make a difference.

How to use a KWL chart

KWL is similar to the SQ3R method in that you’ll be using a pencil and paper to take notes as you study. On your paper, make three columns and title them Know, Want to Know, and Learn. (If you get one of those KWL notebooks I mentioned, this is already done for you.) With or without the pre-made notebook, try to do this by hand, not digitally, as handwriting is better for retention. While it's easier to do this in a word processing doc and you might even think you should, so you don't run out of room for all your ideas, the limited space offered by physical paper is a good thing: Also like the SQ3R method, you want to do this on small chunks of material, like a chapter or brief section of text, instead of focusing on too big of an area.

In the event you've already scaled-down your focus to just one chapter or section but you still think you'll have too much content for three columns on one page, you can opt for three pages, each labeled with one of the KWL pillars, but that should be the maximum space allowance you give yourself.

Know

Before starting to read a given chapter or section (or watch part of a recorded lecture, listen to an assigned podcast, etc.), write everything you already know—or think you know—about it in the Know column. Think of this a little like blurting, a learning technique that calls on you to write or say everything you know about a topic before checking it against your notes to see what you missed. In this case, you may not have pre-existing notes to reference, but it will still get you in the zone, at least in terms of using active recall to pull anything you might be familiar with out of the recesses of your memory.

Want to know

Next, move over to your Want to Know section and write down what you’d like to learn or get from the material. If you don’t know much about the topic, it’s fine to write that you want to know what it even is or jot down broad questions, but for an easier way to set specific goals, look at things like chapter subheadings, summaries, or tables within your materials, and base your questions off of those. For instance, if your chapter includes a graph showing that a certain disease is more prevalent in a specific country, one of your want-to-know questions can be why that is.

This is a chance to get creative. Ask unorthodox questions. Take some time to sit and think over what you could endeavor to find out beyond What is this chapter about? The more curious you allow yourself to be, the more you'll engage with the content.

Learn

Finally, consume the content, whatever it is. As you go through the material, pay close attention for anything that could help you answer the questions you wrote in your want-to-know section. Take notes elsewhere on the page if necessary, because when you’re done, you’ll reflect on what you learned, review the materials and your notes, and mark it down in the Learn column. You can write what you learned overall, but be sure that this column also includes the answers to the questions you posed in the second step.

Finishing up with KWL

After all three columns are filled out, you're not quite done. I recommend revising your notes, especially if the chart got messy. Use blurting to see how much of the material stuck with you, then check your blurting against the chart and the source material. Alternately, try a different technique to further entrench the content in your brain. Use your want-to-know questions to create a flashcard deck, for instance, and then follow the Leitner method of flashcard review. Try using the Feynman method by explaining the chapter content to a friend, a relative, or even an AI bot, which can help you break down complicated concepts into smaller bites.

Try this for a variety of uses, even your personal recreational reading. KWL works well for not only the reading comprehension it was designed to enhance, but also taking notes during a lecture, participating in a classroom activity, going to a workshop, or even just watching a documentary. The whole purpose is to keep you focused and curious while you consume information, so you stay engaged as you try to find answers to the original questions you laid out.

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